Motherly Love
by Shadows in Versailles
Summary: After getting a letter from Verna telling Shawn she wasn't his real mom, Amy finds Shawn in the Matthews' backyard and offers him motherly love. Set during Family Trees. OneShot


**Alright, here it is. My first BMW fic. (My first fic on ffn too!) So tell me what you think. Please, no flames. Constructive criticism is welcome.  
P.S. this is set during the epesode "Family Tree" where Shawn gets a letter from Verna telling him that she's not his real mother.

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**It wasn't fair. Why did the bad news just seem to pour down on Shawn Hunter? First his father dies, and then his best friend gets married and slowly forgets about him. Then he finds out he was an orphan because his mother never really was his mother.

It was late December and nearing Christmas. This holiday would be lonelier than when Chet had left to go find Verna for months at a time. Shawn knew that his dad had meant well, wanting Shawn to grow up in a real family- like the Matthews'. But now with no mother, no father, and no one to talk to, he felt that his father had truly abandoned him this time.

Shawn pulled his jacket tighter around himself trying to fend off the air that pricked at his face and hands like knives and needles. It had snowed earlier that night so the Philadelphia ground was covered in white. It didn't look like it was going to snow now, but that would only make Shawn's evening worse so the frozen ice was probably on it's way down. His whole world was crashing down around him. His real mother didn't even want to be found. He was completely and truly alone.

:-:-:-:-:

Amy Matthews walked into her kitchen with knives caked with icing, intending to rinse them off after cutting the birthday cake for her husband. Their offer to adopt their son's best friend had backfired and he had ended up walking out, as drunk as he came in. All of her son's friends had been shaken up about Shawn after he left. What would he do? The answer to that was 'probably something that will devastate all of the people who care about him'. Those had been Cory's words, not her own. She just wished that Shawn would open his eyes and see how much the Matthews' family loved him.

Amy walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. Busing herself with the dishes she didn't even notice the dark, leather-clad figure meandering around the backyard. She shut off the water and put the knives away in the dishwasher. She sighed and hung her head as she leaned against the countertop. Looking up, she noticed something odd about the backyard. Someone was out there. Since it was dark it wasn't easy to see but she knew right away who it was, even with his back to her.

She opened the back door gently as not to disturb him.

:-:-:-:-:

Shawn turned at the click of the closing door. Mrs. Matthews, the last person he expected to see walked out into the snow covered yard with her arms around herself trying to keep the cold off.

"Shawn, what are you doing out here? It's freezing," she questioned.

"I should go." Shawn said. He was embarrassed at how he had acted when the offer of adoption was on the table. He knew that Mr. and Mrs. Matthews really did mean it when they said they wanted to be his family. His mom and dad.

Shawn turned to leave as Mrs. Matthews caught his arm. "Shawn, come, sit and talk to me." Mrs. Matthews face told him that there really wouldn't be another option. He followed her to the two-seater by the big tree he used to climb out of when he was a kid. Mrs. Matthews tucked her legs under her and leaned against the back of the couch. Shawn just sat there trying to avoid eye contact. Mrs. Matthews was a mother and she had the ability every mother has to pick out the problem just by looking at someone.

"Shawn, what's going on, honey? You weren't like this when you got the letter. What changed?" Mrs. Matthews asked. He mumbled something inaudible under his breath. "What was that?" Mrs. Matthews asked.

"She didn't want me to find her!" Shawn shouted as he buried his face in his hands. He kept his head and the rest of his body hunched over his knees trying to keep the tears from spilling.

Mrs. Matthews placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Who didn't want you to find her, Shawn?" Her voice was tender but still firm on getting answers.

Shawn sat up and wiped away a few stray tears that had escaped. He breathed in deeply to regain control of himself before answering.

"My mother. My real mother. Me, Cory, Jack and everyone else helped me look up my dad's family tree and we found a woman he married who could have been my mother. We got the answers back this morning."

"I'm guessing she wasn't everything you hoped. Did you meet her?" Mrs. Matthews asked.

"No, and I probably never will. The results said that Elaine McGinty was not to be found. It was her choice. She never wanted me, I know that. Who could want a worthless trailer boy?" Shawn said sitting back in the chair.

"Now, Shawn, don't be talking like that. You are not worthless and you know who wants you? We do. Our whole family. Do you think that we just asked you to be our son because we felt sorry for you?"

"I don't know."

"Of course we didn't. Shawn, we love you. You should know that. You're Cory's best friend; you two are practically brothers anyway. And don't let the woman who walked away from her kid make you feel less of yourself." Mrs. Matthews softened her voice. "Don't let an 'Elaine McGinty' hold you back. She missed out on a great kid. At least Verna was around long enough to see you growing up. Even for a little while."

Shawn gave a little smile. The effects of the alcohol was beginning to wear off and the numbness he'd been feeling began to fade. He was able to feel again. Not physically feel because the snow had deadened his sense of touch. But the months of emotions he'd felt since his father died and he needed to make peace with it. He stood up and turned to Mrs. Matthews.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Mrs. Matthews stood up to and embraced the boy. "Anytime, Shawn, anytime." Amy turned back to the door. "Come on, I made the cake myself." She said cocking her head toward the house.

Shawn smiled and rubbed his fingers together to get the feeling back in them. "Thanks, Mrs. Matthews, but Cory's going to want to catch up with me soon and I was thinking we'd go to the cemetery. I have some peace to make with my father."

"Just don't stay out too long. I don't want you getting sick." Mrs. Matthews smiled before going back into the house.

Maybe he always had a mother. They just didn't live in the same house or share the same DNA.

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**Well, there you go. Hope you enjoyed it!**  



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